Humans have always found it hard to cope with the idea that every individual has a lifespan even as life itself goes on. The idea of a natural life cycle for a business, or industrial centre, is even more difficult to accept. So we ask: what can be done to revive Detroit? Can BlackBerry find a new role?

It’s cold blooded to believe that companies that impact real people can and should come to an end, but it’s the truth of what really happens. It’s the process that Joseph Schumpeter coined as Creative Destruction – the fact that capitalism enables new entrepreneurs to enter a market and compete with (and eventually destroy) established firms. This is what sustains economic growth.